Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ
Who Are You?
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note to reader: These sermons on Ephesians are not my typical verse-by-verse exposition. Most were preached in 1990 in a series on “Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ.” I used Ephesians as a springboard for this series but referred to many other passages as well. Some of the sermons in the series are stand-alone messages preached at various times and various places. The early sermons from 30-35 years ago are not well footnoted, as I never expected them to be published.
There’s no place I’d rather be right now than right here.
Now I’m planning to speak to you for the next several months on the subject of “Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ.” Last spring I preached a sermon on spiritual warfare, and another one on freedom, but God impressed upon my heart this summer that I only scratched the surface of these two key topics. This time we’re going to dig much deeper, using the book of Ephesians as our base of operations, but not going through it verse by verse in our usual manner. My message today comes in the form of a question, “Who Are You?”
In seeking an answer to this question, I want us to consider …
Some preliminary issues concerning our identity:
We are involved in a spiritual battle.
A lot of us are experiencing defeat.
The single greatest obstacle to victory is satanic deception.
One of the prime targets for his deception is our personal identity.
We are involved in a spiritual battle. Paul wrote to the Church at Ephesus in chapter 6, verse 12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We tend to look around us and see our enemies as ignorance, poverty, drugs, abortion, pornography, violence, corruption, and such things. But these are just the weapons being employed by the spiritual forces of evil so active in the world today. It is appropriate to fight to minimize the effects of these lethal weapons, but we’ll become very discouraged if we don’t recognize that the real enemy is not the weapons themselves but the ones using the weapons. The problem in the Middle East today is not Iraqi tanks or nerve gas; the problem is Saddam Hussein. In fact, I’ll go a step further and suggest that the ultimate problem is the satanic spiritual forces motivating and directing Saddam.
But we don’t have to go to the Middle East; we see plenty of evidence of the spiritual battle right here at home. This summer there was a New Age and Occult Fair at Henry VIII Lodge, one of hundreds held every year in major cities of our country. Thousands of stores specialize in New Age metaphysics, occult phenomena, channeling, crystals, etc. Much of this stuff has crept into public institutions and even into our religious institutions.
Just last week I read a news article about Southern Methodist University that you won’t believe, but I believe it, because SMU is my own alma mater and I saw plenty to be concerned about while a student there twenty years ago. Let me read it:
“Methodist seminary officials in Dallas found themselves in a caldron after a witch was invited to lecture and lead a liturgy to an ancient deity. Linda Finnell, a self-avowed occultist and lesbian, gave her presentation during a ‘Women’s Week’ series sponsored by Perkins School of Theology, an affiliate of Southern Methodist university and one of the leading Methodist seminaries. The special class was held at posh Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. One observer said that Finnell ‘projected a positive affirmation of witchcraft’ while she lectured behind a candlelit altar featuring an image of the goddess Diana.
Charges against Perkins were filed last month by leaders of First United Methodist Church in Ketchum, Ok. They asked the denomination’s University Senate to decertify the seminary and place reprimands in the files of professors who approved of Finnell’s ritual. Bill Raus, spokesman for First’s board, stated in the formal complaint that the Perkins episode ‘illuminates some reasons why the UMC continues to hemorrhage at the rate of 1,000-plus members per week.’”[i]
Any doubt we’re in spiritual warfare? Not only is it obvious that we are in a spiritual battle, but it is also obvious that …
A lot of us are experiencing defeat. We may not be involved in witchcraft or occultism, but we may be prisoners of anger, bitterness, rebellious attitudes, temptation, addictive behavior, and broken relationships. A leading evangelical scholar recently said that in his estimation not more than 15% of baptized, born-again, evangelical church members are spiritually free, i.e., enjoying their walk with Christ, experiencing daily victory, and growing to maturity in Christ. About the same percent, he suggests, are under direct Satanic oppression and influence, and the other 70% are just hanging on by their fingertips waiting for the rapture. If he’s anywhere near correct, that’s a pretty sad situation.
What’s going on here? Why isn’t there more “victory in Jesus” that we sang about so heartily a few moments ago?
The single greatest obstacle to victory in our lives is Satanic deception. Satan’s greatest tool is not Ouija boards or black magic or spirit guides. His greatest tool is simple deception. It’s the first tool he ever used (on Eve in the Garden), and it’s been his mainstay ever since. That shouldn’t surprise us because if Satan attacks you, you know it; if he accuses you, you know it; but if he deceives you, you don’t know it.
Turn with me to 2 Cor. 11:3, where Paul writes,
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (Now skip down to verse 13). Such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
The battle is for our minds, friends. In 2 Cor. 4:4 we read, “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” But he also deceives believers. In 2 Cor. 2:5-11 we learn that Satan deceived the church at Corinth about both the initial need for discipline and the eventual need for forgiveness and restoration.
One of the prime targets for Satan’s deception is our personal identity. Let me try something here. (I took the microphone and asked for a volunteer to come up for an interview. Bruce Roquet agreed, and I asked him, “Who are you?” The full interview is available on the tape of this sermon, but the gist of it is as follows):
Mike: Thank you for volunteering. Who are you?
Bruce: I’m Bruce Roquet.
Mike: No, that’s your name. Who are you?
Bruce: I’m the husband of Deb and father of three great kids.
Mike: No, that’s your family status. Who are you?
Bruce: I’m V.P. of _____ (company).
Mike: No, that’s where you work. Who are you?
Bruce, with a smirk on his face: I’m a Chicago Cubs fan.
Mike: No, that shows your lack of discernment. Who are you?
Bruce, with some hesitation: OK, I think I know what you want. I’m a
Christian. I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Mike: That’s better. Thank you, Bruce, for your courage in coming
up here.
Friends, if Satan can cause us to believe inadequate or even destructive things about who we are, he can keep us in bondage to those misconceptions. The fact of the matter is that everyone of us struggles to establish an identity. That struggle starts early in life, and for many it lasts a lifetime. Some people never seem to find themselves. Some of the most common phrases counselors hear today are phrases like, “I just feel like I don’t belong,” “I feel rejected,” “I’m such a failure,” “There’s no hope for me,” or “I don’t think anyone really loves me.” And a lot of Christians are saying these things, if not to counselors, at least to themselves.
Why? Well, one of the reasons is that the world and Satan have done a number on us by perpetrating false equations in the search for identity.
Some false equations in the search for identity.
I have listed just three on your outline:
Appearance plus popularity = a whole person.
Performance plus accomplishments = a whole person.
Status plus recognition = a whole person.
Our culture is obsessed with appearance and popularity. Recently a youth pastor asked his young people, “Do you think a teenage girl with a potato body, buck teeth, and zits has any hope of a happy, fulfilled life?” Every one of them answered in the negative. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, because that’s what television and the rest of our culture are constantly telling us. If it were true, we’d be in big trouble, because when you look around there are very few great physical specimens among us. And frankly, those that are the best are often the most miserable.
Want proof of that? Have you ever seen an ugly girl who suffered from anorexia or bulimia? I doubt it. Most of them are beautiful. The problem is often that when they were very young their families and friends commented frequently about how cute they were, which caused them to develop the notion that appearance is the key to acceptance. Then when they got older, appearance became an obsession and led to addictive food disorders. Appearance and popularity constitute a dead-end street if one is searching for personal identity.
Performance plus accomplishments is another false equation. Do you really think those who have climbed to the top of the ladder in entertainment, business, education, and politics, are more fulfilled than the rest of us? Hardly. The incidence of depression, alcoholism, divorce, child abuse, drug abuse, and suicide actually increases as one climbs the ladders of performance and accomplishment.
But what about status plus recognition? I caught about ten minutes of the TV program “48 Hours” last Thursday night. It was focused on the inhabitants of Beverly Hills, and to me it was one of the sickest things I have seen on TV in a long time. Do you think those people are whole, and fulfilled, and at peace with themselves? Frankly, they’re in a prison not much different from the one in Potosi; the furniture is just a little more expensive. I’ve heard there are more psychiatrists per square mile in Beverly Hills than anywhere else in the world.
But as false as these equations are, they still plague us in the Church. Christian women are as obsessed with thinness as worldly women (and I’m not talking here about the legitimate desire to lose weight for health reasons; I’m talking about those who are flocking to every new diet that comes along in a desperate effort to find acceptance). Christian men are as obsessed with career advancement as worldly men. Christians are as hungry for recognition and status as anyone else. Just look at our designer labels or the cars on our parking lot.
It’s time to consider …
A biblical perspective on our identity
If Satan has succeeded in deceiving us with false concepts of personal identity, what’s the solution? Well, friends, the solution to deception is always truth. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” And a few verses later he adds, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
I want to share with you three important propositions:
1. It is not what the Christian does that determines who he is; it is who he is that determines what he does.
2. No person can consistently behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the way he perceives himself.
3. Therefore, it is mandatory that we come to understand who we are in Christ. (Eph. 1)
The interview with Bruce was a set-up this morning, but the answers he gave to my question, “Who are you?” are no different than the answers I’ve received from others I’ve asked the same questions.
It’s no secret that if a child is told he’s stupid and worthless often enough he will come to believe it, and, generally, the prophecy will become self-fulfilling. On the other hand, if a child is loved unconditionally, and affirmed, and praised for appropriate things, he will generally become a well-adjusted, confident, contributing member of society. It’s who we perceive ourselves to be that determines how we act.
In fact, no one can consistently behave in a manner that is inconsistent with the way he perceives himself. And that’s why I want us to turn to Ephesians 1 and listen to who we are in God’s eyes. Ephesians 1:
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To God’s holy people in Ephesus the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Bruce finally identified himself as a Christian and, more importantly, clarified that to mean a personal relationship with Christ. That’s an excellent identity. But I find many Christians, who when pushed to the wall by persistent questioning, can do no better than say, “Well, I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” In fact, all of us have probably used that terminology at some time. But where do you find that in the Bible? Name one NT Epistle that is written to the sinners at Ephesus, or the sinners at Colossae, or the sinners at Thessalonica. No, they’re all written to the saints, the holy ones, in those locations.
Now please don’t misunderstand me. I am not for a moment suggesting that any believer is sinless, or that he is anything at all except for the grace of God. But it seems to me that it makes a great deal of difference whether we view our basic identity as “sinners saved by grace” or “saints who sometimes sin.” Think about that for a moment. If our basic identity is sinner, what do sinners do? They sin! It’s inevitable. You’re halfway defeated already. But if your basic identity is saint, a holy one, one set apart by God and adopted into His family, then what does that kind of person do? He lives righteously. I’m here to tell you that while God constantly recognizes our weakness and our proneness to sin, His view of our basic identity is saint, holy one, child of God.
Now let’s go back to Ephesians 1 and I want you to look for evidence of who you are in Christ. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m reading consistent with the picture of ‘a defeated person barely hanging on by his fingertips waiting for the rapture?’”
Believe me, I hate to stop this morning. I’m convinced we’re on to something important here. But my time is up, so let me conclude by observing that the missing ingredient in the lives of almost all defeated Christians is a true perception of who they are in Christ. Satan cannot do anything about our position in Christ, but if he can deceive us into doubting our position in Christ, he can defeat us handily. Most of us come to church asking, “What shall I do?” The real question should be, “Who am I?”
The Gospel can be likened to a kingdom where many prostitutes worked illegally and undercover (no pun intended). One day the king pardons them. That is an act of grace, but it might not change their behavior. In fact, they might even become more open in their sin. However, if the king not only pardons them, but appoints them to his harem, then all the reasons for continuing in prostitution (money, drugs, despair, power, etc.) are fulfilled. In like manner, God has forgiven us and has made us His bride. That’s why we are “more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)
Friends, I’ve been addressing those who have recognized their spiritual bankruptcy and have come to Jesus Christ to receive the gift of life. That gift is available for you too.
DATE: September 9, 1990
Tags:
Spiritual warfare
Personal identity
Satanic deception
Occult
Performance
[i] I believe this article was from the Dallas Morning News, but one can find all the information by simply Googling “Linda Finnell, Perkins School of Theology.”